The first review of the Valles Caldera National Preserve’s brand-new South Mountain hike has been posted on the blog “Los Alamos Woods Wanderer.” The review is replete with dozens of striking photos from our Preserve’s newly-opened verdant lava dome. “It was exhilarating and enjoyable to have been on South Mountain’s gentle summit with its golden grass meadows,” Mr. Ree writes. “How lucky we felt to be able to hike up South Mountain to enjoy these views!”
Mr. Ree has also blogged on “Valles Caldera Rim” since 2007. This valuable blog is full of commentary about the state of the Valles Caldera National Preserve as well as trip reports and photos chronicling much of the proposed path of the epic, 78-mile-long Valles Caldera Rim Trail that would circumnavigate the entire rim of the Caldera. Residents of the Jemez Mountains area, including author and local expert Dorothy Hoard, have long pushed for the opening of this ambitious trail that would certainly attract the attention and excitement of hikers and adventurists worldwide. Check out the web site “Valles Caldera Rim Trails” to learn about the details of this proposed trail and recent developments about the years-long campaign by local residents to have this trail opened (click here for a map of the path of the proposed trail, with information on each of the trail’s segments).
